USA, California: Right Wing Goes After Conversion Therapy Ban Again In Court

Today the Liberty Counsel, who brought one of the lawsuits challenging the ban on First and Fourteenth Amendment grounds, has filed a petition for rehearing and rehearing en banc at the Ninth Circuit. This means if they agree to rehear the case, the same panel could hear it again, or an 11-judge en banc panel will take up the issue anew. The petition questions the Ninth Circuit’s application of the more lenient rational basis scrutiny on a variety of grounds, suggesting that the law is content-based and viewpoint-based so that the proper First Amendment scrutiny should be the most rigorous strict scrutiny. And the petition suggests higher levels of scrutiny should apply if the law is based on conduct that touches on speech, among other things.

What, have they suddenly found some compelling new evidence that beating gay kids with tennis rackets actually does work to turn them straight?